


Precious On All Counts

by ironmessTM



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff (lowkey), Fluff in general though haha, For once it's not angst, Gen, Irondad, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony is lowkey highkey in denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 11:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20723777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironmessTM/pseuds/ironmessTM
Summary: Whoa, would you look at that, I wrote something that isn't angst for once in my life? Dang guysPosting the culmination of about six weeks that was And Then The Universe earlier today was...big. It was freakin big. So, of course, I am going to put this up now. This has been sitting around for a little bit, because I had this planned as part of a 5+1 and I wanted to write them all out before posting any of them, but screw it I needed this.Anyway...basically, Tony is in denial that Peter is his son, (because yes) and then Peter calls him dad, and welp breakdown ensues and it's Rhodey The Best Friend to the rescue and yaay happy ending not much angst it's all good hereEnjoy hahaha this is so much lighter than usual and there is more in general to come :)





	Precious On All Counts

**Author's Note:**

> So this was written...I suppose you could say fairly quickly, and rather casually, and it is a far cry from the hours and hours spent refining and lowkey stressing over And Then The Universe. Just an fyi.
> 
> Enjoy!

  
“M’rning M’ster St’rk” Peter said around a mouthful of toast as Tony walked into the room, adjusting his tie and grabbing a mug from the cupboard.

“Morning, kid.” He replied while sticking his arm just beside the toaster, instinctively reaching for and unable to find the full pot of coffee he normally had waiting for him every morning. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where the coffee went, would you? This thing is empty.”

Peter swallowed the last of his breakfast, hopping off the barstool-style chair in front of the kitchen counter and slipping his plate into the sink. “Nope.” He said simply, before his face lit up with the mischievous smile Tony felt he would never tire of. “Though I mean…is that really a bad thing?” Tony shrugged, giving a slight laugh.

“It’s only a problem if it comes with a downside.” he quipped, before looking up to address F.R.I.D.A.Y. “Hey, Friday? You think you could get a fresh pot going before I have to head out?”

“Sure thing, boss.” the AI responded, a gentle hum bubbling through the generally overworked coffee machine as it began grinding the fresh refill of beans. Tony let out a sigh, placing his elbows on the counter and leaning forward so that he was face to face with Peter’s all but abandoned chair.

“Hey, kid,” Tony called, effectively stopping Peter who was on his way to exit the room.

“Yeah, Mister Stark?” Peter responded, turning around with that wide-eyed expression of his that made Tony feel the need to stifle a well-intended laugh every time he saw it.

“You got some place to be, or do you think you could maybe get back over here and keep me company while Friday and the coffee machine do their thing?”

Peter’s mouth quirked in wordless acknowledgment as he turned and walked back to his seat, jumping onto the firm cushion with enough force to make the stool spin around. Tony watched the boy’s curls bounce and an innocent, childlike grin bloom on his face, and he couldn’t help but smile himself at the sheer, honey-like purity of the moment playing out in front of him. Peter’s spinning came to a stop once the inertia faded, but Tony always felt blessed whenever he saw that the happiness written into the boy’s face never seemed to stop with it.

“So…” Tony started, clearing his throat and shooting a somewhat longing glance at the still in-progress coffee maker. “What’s your day lookin’ like?’

“Well…” Peter said, taking a moment to think it over. “I’ll probably stay in, watch a couple movies, catch up on some homework for Monday before I go out on patrol. Maybe I’ll work on my web formula in the lab, while I’m here, so I don’t have to do it in chemistry next week.” He gave a small laugh before looking up shyly at Tony. “Thanks, again, by the way, for letting me stay here every other weekend? It…it makes things easy on May, a-and it’s fun, too.”

“Glad to hear it.” Tony said, unable to hold back the contented quirk in the corner of his mouth. “Of course, you’re always welcome to swing around more, if the mood to tinker or bask in my wisdom ever strikes you. After all, my doors,” he pasued, spreading his arms and gesturing to the space around him with a witty smile. “are always open.” At this Peter grinned softly, about to respond with what was likely to be another thank you before the coffee maker gave a small assault of sharp beeps and Peter practically jumped in surprise.  
“Sorry, kid, I could’ve sworn I’d turned down the volume on this damn thing when I had to mess with the toaster.” He poked around the buttons a bit before pouring himself a cup and taking a long sip, letting out an only partially dramatized sigh of happiness. “Oh…that’s good.” 

He looked over at Peter, about to say something else, when he realized that the kid was still rubbing the space just behind his ear, wincing a little as he did it.

"Hey.” Tony said, setting down the mug and walking around the counter so that he was standing just behind the presently occupied barstool. He moved one hand to gently brush away Peter’s fingers and take their place, rubbing circles into the same spot and toying with loose strands of the boy’s curls as he did so. “That any better?” he asked softly, moving his fingertips slowly back and forth. Peter relaxed into his touch, closing his eyes and letting out a light sigh as he nodded.

“Yeah.” he breathed contentedly. Tony let the moment sit, choosing not to keep his eyes from remaining tender and endearing, before he realized what he was doing and forced his fingers to go slack. He walked back to the other side of the counter, trying to focus enough on his coffee that he could forget the bubbling waves of affection for the kid, feelings that could only be described as…

_Parental._

God, he felt like he hated that word. Or maybe he was just scared of it, and trying to hold on to his pride. But…what wasn’t to hate? With all of its…with all of its baggage, its implications, and all the things to live up to that he knew he never could. _Besides,_ he thought, trying and struggling to keep himself in check. _the kid already has May. They don’t need me. They’re fine as they are; they don’t need, me getting involved and screwing things up._ He looked down into his mug and found that he could no longer stomach the drink he normally took so much satisfaction in, and stifled a sigh as he turned to dump it out into the sink.  
“I gotta head out now, kid.” he said, wanting to keep his forming abyss of swirling thoughts away from the ball of sunshine he’d seen so happy only moments before. “Stay safe out there, okay? Don’t take on anything too big, you call me first if you find anything above your pay grade.” Peter opened his mouth to make a comment, no doubt, but Tony cut him off before he had the chance to say anything. “And yes, I’m aware you work for free. ‘Good samaritans’ don’t get paid, buddy; that one’s on you. I’ll see you, okay? I’ll be back before dinner, and then we can order in and watch movies until it’s time to crash. Oh, and, don’t watch too much TV while I’m out. You’ll rot your brain. All that sound good to you?”

“Sure thing, _dad.”_ Peter replied with an eye roll, the words rich with his typical innocently joking sarcasm. “See you.”

Tony involuntarily began to give a nervous laugh that he deftly cut off with a quick cough, and turned towards the door just as smoothly so that Peter wouldn’t be able to read his face and see that his brain was beginning to make a much bigger deal of this than it was. _Snap out of it, Stark. It was just a casual, inconsequential comment; you dish ‘em out plenty yourself, don’t you? Get it together._ “Bye, Peter.” he called over his shoulder, just barely able to keep his voice from shaking and betraying just how unjustifiably unsteady every inch of him felt.

The second he exited the tower and felt the cool rush of morning air flush against the growing sheen of sweat on his face, he realized his heart was racing, that his breaths were shaking, and that he was probably scared out of his mind. _Shit._ He looked to the left and then the right before feverishly making his way around the corner and into an enclosed alleyway, collapsing back against the cool, textured brick and aiming his head upwards as he closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. “Friday, call…call Rhodey.” he said, hoping his friend wasn’t busy and had time to talk some sense into him. 

“Hey, Tones, what’s up?”

“Rhodey? I…you’re not busy, with anything, are you? Nothing I’m interrupting?”

“Not at the moment, no. What’s wrong?” For a moment, Tony hesitated, now wanting nothing more than to deny it, apologize for the random call and move on. However, unfortunately and fortunately in equal measure, Rhodey knew him too well for that plan to work out at all. “Tony, I know something’s wrong, I can hear you hesitating. Just talk to me. Come on, I’m right here.” Tony stayed silent, simply breathing in and trying to calm his nerves. “Okay, fine,” Rhodey continued, unwilling to leave Tony in the state he could tell the man was crumpling into. “just…tell me where you are, and I’ll come to you. Can you do that?”

“I…”

“Friday, where’s Tony?” Rhodey asked the AI through the call.

“Boss is currently in the private alleyway to the left behind the tower.” she responded to Rhodey directly through Tony’s earpiece.

“What’re his vitals like?” Rhodey asked, and Tony suppressed a sigh, remaining uncharacteristically silent due to the knowledge that shutting F.R.I.D.A.Y. down was unlikely to resolve anything in the long run. Besides, a small little part of him, the part he begrudgingly found himself thinking of as human, felt relieved that someone stepped in, as much as the rest of him had always tried and failed to resist it.

“Boss’s heartrate is elevated, as is his breathing speed, and his readings indicate that he is currently in a state of mild to rising and generally fluctuating panic.”

“I’ll be right there. Hang in there, Tony, okay? Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”

“It’s…it’s nothing, it’s…probably one of the stupidest possible things to panic over, anyway, you…you don’t need to come all the way out here…” he protested weakly, his words – albeit predictably – working to no avail.

“I’m already on my way.” Rhodey said, the clunk of his War Machine suit distantly audible in the background. “Save it for when I have to help you get your shit together.” Tony could practically hear him grin as he continued, “the things I do for you…”

In a matter of minutes the familiar grey-toned armor planted itself down a few feet in front of Tony, rising from the suit’s signature landing pose and opening up to reveal Rhodey stepping out. “Jesus, Tones, you look like shit. What happened?”

“I…”

“Breathe, okay?” he said, planting one hand gently but firmly onto Tony’s shoulder. “Just take it easy, one breath at a time. In through the nose…out through the mouth. One…at a time.” As pathetic as Tony felt in this situation, he was also eternally grateful to have a friend he could count on like this, someone who would always stand by him even when he was a complete and total mess. “Do you want me to get the kid? This is one of the weekends you have him, right, up in the Tower?”

“No no no no” Tony blurted, the very thought of Peter making the link between his vocal cords and his brain all but stop entirely. “Not…not the kid.” he tried again, aiming to regain at least a semblance of his composure. “No.”

“Okay, so…this is because of him, then? Did he…say something, or do something, or…?”

“He…I…”

“Friday, what did Peter say or do right before Tony’s vitals began to spike?”

“If I’m not mistaken, I believe boss’s state of panic is a result of mister Parker jokingly referring to him as his-” the AI’s voice cut out, continuing and finishing the sentence with a recorded clip of Peter’s voice as he said the word “dad.” 

Now, this…this was not. What Rhodey had been expecting. 

This was a man who’d known Tony Stark for decades. This was a man who knew Tony Stark, probably better than almost anyone else in the world; Tony himself included. This was a man who had been there for Tony time and time again, without fail. And yet…this was a man who had to try very, very hard to stifle a peal of laughter. Because there was no way, that the great, and powerful, Tony Stark, had been reduced to this…this mess; because the kid he’d practically adopted and was in complete and total denial about, had made a simple, one-word, sarcastic comment.  
And called him “dad”.

As far as Rhodey was concerned, this was pure _gold._

But he knew that in this moment, Tony needed a friend, so he opted to file this away where he’d never forget it, for the day he’d always search for on which he could start to joke about it and never let it go.

Tony had a hand pressed to his forehead, unable to look his friend in the eye. “Friday, I’m going to need to place some restrictions on Rhodey’s access to your systems, remind me about that later.”

“Sure thing, boss.” The AI responded dutifully before going silent.

“Tones.” Rhodey said, prompting the man to drop his hand and look up.

“Rhodes.” Tony deadpanned in response.

“Tony, you…you’ve got to stop lying to yourself, about this kid. He’s…he’s brilliant, and kind of adorable, and I swear to god I have almost never seen you as happy as you are when he’s rambling on about his nerd crap, and you’re staring at him all mushy-eyed like he’s the most precious thing you’ve ever seen in your life. You…goddamn it, Tony, it’s okay to love the things that make you happy, it’s _okay,_ that there are things that make you happy.”

“I just…” Tony sighs, his hand once again returning to his forehead. “I don’t wanna screw up with this kid, with- with this kid’s life. He doesn’t…he doesn’t need me as any sort of role model; not with my ego, or my…assorted laundry list of character defects, with all of that well-established goodness. He’s…he’s got his aunt, and they’ve got a good thing going, and they…they don’t need me busting in, a-and messing shit up. I’m already going too far, borrowing him every other weekend; I’m not his father, what the hell gives me the right?”

“Tony. He loves you too.”

Those words, the knowledge that that’s what he felt for Peter, and Rhodey making him stare it in the face…it was as though everything he’d been trying to bury had just dislodged in his gut, and he was this close to keeling over. “I…I don’t…” Tony scoffed nervously, adjusting his collar with his finger. When had it gotten so hot outside?

“Look. You don’t need to start calling yourself his dad, you don’t need to sign any custody papers, and you don’t have to overthink this. Just…if the kid wants to call you dad, if that’s what he wants, and if that’s what he ends up doing, then…then just don’t stand in his way, especially when deep down you know it’s what you want too. Okay? You don’t need to do anything, except be there when he needs it. Trust me, Tony, that’s enough. That’s enough and more.”

“That’s…” Tony said, somehow at a loss for words. “wow, did- did you come up with that? Because- that’s funny, I could’ve sworn that was the first Google search result under, what was it, uh… ‘how to parent when you’re generally incapable and should probably be on some sort of medication’, was that it?”

“What, are you tellin’ me you’ve looked that up?” Rhodey shot back with a smile.

“Please,” Tony scoffed. “if I were going to look it up I’d at the very least mention the egotism, if the search bar had enough room left over.”

“Heh. Look, just…go on up there, and be with the kid while he’s here, okay? Go spend some quality time with him. I’ll have Friday call Pepper, and we’ll see if we can clear up your schedule.”

“Thanks, Rhodes.” Tony said, his smile soft and his eyes grateful.

“Yeah, anytime.”

The two of them headed back into the building, silently thankful that the alleyway was blocked by the building on one side and walled off on the others, which allowed everything that had happened to have stayed private. They got into the elevator and when they walked out into the main area, Peter looked up from his textbooks and notes in surprise from where he was still sitting in front of the counter. “Oh, hey, Mister Stark, a-and Mister Rhodey. What are you…what are you guys doing back here? I thought you said you’d only be home around dinner.”

“Yeah, change of plans, kid.” Tony replied, walking towards him and grabbing himself a mug, because in spite of all the assorted nonsense he’d had to deal with, and at that before the sun had even really fully come up, he still hadn’t had the saving grace that was his almost religious daily dose of coffee. “You miss me?”

“Always.” Peter said with only partially sarcastic sweetness, a soft smile gracing his features and making Tony feel all warm and fuzzy inside in ways he felt he just might one day be able to admit to.

“You two enjoy.” Rhodey said as he turned back towards the door. “I’m gonna go call Pepper. I’ll see you later, Tones.” He paused, before throwing an extra smile over his shoulder. “Bye, Peter.”

“Bye Mister Rhodey!” Peter called back as the door clicked shut.

“So, kid…” Tony said, sitting down on the barstool-chair thing next to the kid. “how much of this do you got left?” he asked, motioning with his mug to the open homework booklet sitting in front of Peter.

“Not a lot, just a couple short readings a quick recap quiz thing. It’ll probably only take me…fifteen minutes? Twenty?”

“Great. You finish that up, and then…” he snapped his fingers, as though the idea had only just occurred to him. “what do you say to a movie night, only bumped up to the glorious hours of the late morning and early afternoon? I can call the pizza guy, and we’ll be all set up by the time you’re done.”

At this, Peter grinned, able to think of no better way to spend his day.

  


“Count me in.”  


  


**Author's Note:**

> Hahaha  
You made it to the end, so here's a little something...
> 
> Maybe, you remember that I mentioned the work And Then The Universe a couple times at the beginning of this? Well, if you haven't already...slight shameless plug time! (haha)
> 
> In a one-line summary, it's an Endgame AU wherein I send Tony and Peter to Vormir.  
Enjoy.
> 
> (I have this stupid, stupid dream that it could reach 1k reads, but I mean, I can't exactly read it 500ish more times and get it there myself. In all honestly, I've probably already read it a comparable number of times throughout the editing process, so...yeah, now I guess it's up to you guys, haha.)
> 
> I honestly can't believe how many people have read this thing, it's crazy. Thank you so much, and as always, stay tuned!


End file.
